Texan objects to daughter, 12, drawing slave picture of self

Tuesday

Feb 13, 2018 at 6:15 AMFeb 13, 2018 at 6:16 AM

LEANDER, Texas (AP) — A Texas parent has objected to a Civil War-related history assignment in which her 12-year-old daughter was told to draw a picture of herself as a slave.Tonya Jennings of Austin contacted the Leander Independent School District Friday about seventh-graders studying slave life in Texas in the 1850s.Students were told to draw a picture of themselves as slaves, color the picture, then write a sentence that describes the surroundings using each of the five senses — smell, hearing, sight, taste and touch.Jennings, who is black, says there's nothing about slavery that she'd want any child to have to relive.District spokesman Corey Ryan says administrators are reviewing the issue. A district statement says the tragic impact of slavery is well documented and relevant to Texas and U.S. history.

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